


old feelings and shared memories

by imadetheline



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, The Mandalorian (TV) Season 2 Spoilers, The Mandalorian (TV) Spoilers, We All Know the One, major character death is for darth vader in rotj, of that scene at the end of mando chapter 16
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:20:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28164645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imadetheline/pseuds/imadetheline
Summary: **Mandalorian chapter 16 spoilers**And then his attention is once again drawn back to the child and the Mandalorian. “I’ll see you again. I promise.” And Luke almost smiles. He confirms the words in a thought directed at Grogu. He will make sure they see each other again. He’s not in the interest of separating families. For he finally understands that a family is what they are: a family of two.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda, Grogu | Baby Yoda & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Comments: 30
Kudos: 261





	old feelings and shared memories

**Author's Note:**

> i love luke skywalker so much and this was one of my first thoughts when i saw that scene. couldn't get it out of my head so i had to write it. hope you enjoy it!

The Force swirls around the Child, like the air still steadily entering Luke’s lungs despite his fight with the obstacles between him and the bridge. He’s small and familiar, and he had reached out, is still reaching out. But Luke can sense the conflict in…  _ Grogu _ , the Force whispers. 

He brushes against Luke’s shields lightly (so not wholly untrained), and Luke lets the curious tendril in, allowing communication as would not otherwise be possible. There is longing there, in the child’s mind, longing to know another like him as he has not been able to for years. It’s a longing Luke shares, has had for so long. For while he trained Leia, they had both known that the Jedi are not her path in the galaxy, and he hasn’t seen her in some months, their duties calling them to opposite sides of the galaxy. Some part of him aches at the loss of her light. But here is another beaming presence, and it aches as he does, aches to know, to understand and find connections. 

“Come, little one.”

And yet, there is another longing in the small child. And it has to do with the Mandalorian in shining armor standing in front of him, the one who had asked him if he was a Jedi. As if in confirmation of this, the child looks to the man. Luke follows the young one’s gaze, the child’s bond with the man ringing in the Force despite the Mandalorian’s lack of it.

“He doesn’t want to go with you.”

The Mandalorian is wrong, but Luke does not begrudge him this, not with the connection between him and the child, so he gently corrects him. “He wants your permission.” And it’s true. Grogu will not leave without it. And Luke will not take him without his consent. “He is strong with the Force, but talent without training is nothing.” Luke had learned that the hard way, and he does not wish this young one to suffer the same. 

“I will give my life to protect the Child, but he will not be safe until he masters his abilities.” He lowers his shields once again to let Grogu feel the truth of this statement. And Luke truly means no more than he has said: he will help the child understand and learn about the Force for his safety, but there he will stop. He will not force the child into the life of a Jedi. It is not a choice taken lightly, and he has promised himself and the galaxy that his order will be new and better than the order that failed his father.

The Mandalorian seems convinced as well, but Luke can sense his hesitation, his sadness. Nevertheless, he picks the child up gently, murmuring words of encouragement, as much to himself as to the young one he holds. Luke will wait for as long as they need.

He scans the bridge once again. He’d taken note of the other presences in the room as soon as his x-wing had entered the hangar, had, of course, assessed how much danger they posed and their intentions towards the child as soon as he entered the bridge. But the Force around Grogu had distracted him from truly noticing them. Now he allows himself to brush against each of their dim presences. The women hold their guns close, prepared to fire at him as soon as he moves wrong or seeks to harm the child. A strange mixture of amusement and respect fills him. Their dedication to the young one is to be admired. And they may not be able to do much against him (though he would never hurt them), but their lack of fear in the face of something that not many in the galaxy left understand is commendable. It strangely reminds him of Leia. 

And then his attention is once again drawn back to the child and the Mandalorian. “I’ll see you again. I promise.” And Luke almost smiles. He confirms the words in a thought directed at Grogu. He will make sure they see each other again. He’s not in the interest of separating families. For he finally understands that a family is what they are: a family of two. 

Grogu reaches for the silver helmet covering the man’s face, and Luke senses the pang of sadness and love from the armored Mandalorian. He removes it with barely a moment of hesitation. Their bond sings loudly in the Force: love and devotion and care flowing between them. Grogu reaches for the man-- _ his father’s  _ face, in all but blood, Luke realizes. Their bond rings with the truth of it.

And suddenly, Luke isn’t standing on the bridge of an Imperial light cruiser but kneeling in a hangar of an Imperial station--an Imperial Death Star--before a dying man laying against the ramp of a shuttle. It’s bright, so bright, the artificial lights almost blinding in flashes that match the ringing of alarms. And yet, they almost seem to be absorbed by the black of the suit. There’s fear surrounding the two of them, pilots and technicians rushing by. It hangs heavy in the air. Luke can feel his own heart echoing loudly in his ears. 

His father’s rasping voice, so different, so much weaker, without the vocoder (or maybe that’s the lightning’s fault), drowns out everything else, “Luke, help me take this mask off.”

His own voice rises slightly, a panicked edge to it, “But you’ll die.”

“Nothing can stop that now. Just for once… let me look on you with my own eyes.” Luke can feel his father’s presence dimming in the Force, can sense the truth of Anakin’s pronouncement ringing loudly. His fingers shake as he carefully removes the life-giving machine from his father’s face. There is no room in him to be surprised at his father’s injuries and scars. The sadness is tearing at his insides now. This man is his father, who’d searched for him, saved him, wanted to know him in the end, as Luke had desperately wanted to know his father his whole life. He had waited for hours in the sand on Tatooine, looking to the stars, something whispering to him of his father, and hoping that the man would swoop down and show him the galaxy.

And while nothing had happened the way he’d dreamed as a child, he’d found his father. And, in the end, the man had loved him; their bond sings with it. All that time… all those years of knowing each other that had been stolen from them by the emperor and even by his father; Luke had thought that finally, they had found each other. And the galaxy is once again ripping them apart. It’s unfair.

Anakin senses Luke’s grief, his longing, the love he’s never been able to contain, and a wave of apology and care and contentment and  _ love _ , love he never thought he’d receive, floods their bond from his father. Luke almost chokes on the air in his lungs, the air that seems to be failing his father. He doesn’t try to stop the tears he feels building.

Anakin smiles, “Now… go, my son. Leave me.” 

It’s a rasp, so weak, and Luke feels something in him crack even as he protests, “No, You’re coming with me. I can’t leave you here. I’ve got to save you.” He knows it’s futile as he says it.

“You already have, Luke. You were right about me. Tell your sister… you were right.”

Luke watches the light leave his father’s eyes, blue, so similar to his own. The grief and knowledge of all the time that was lost to them threatens to overwhelm him. But there’s a whisper of light, of love, urging him onto the ship, the ringing alarms a reminder of this station’s impending doom. And so he takes the body of Anakin Skywalker, of his father, and he escapes.

And suddenly, the alarms are silenced, and he’s staring at another unmasked father and son, vision clouded slightly by the tears in his eyes. He blinks them away. This father and son are under less dire circumstances, but the emotion flowing between them is the same: love. There’s whispered words and longing and hesitation, but then the man lowers the child to the polished floor, and then R2’s there, and Grogu finally crosses the expanse between them. Luke can do nothing but nod, still dazed, though he hides it well, to the man who so clearly loves and cares for the child as his own. And it’s not a selfish love, a possessive love, as Luke’s father’s had been at the beginning of their journey together. No, this love is selfless and parental, like Anakin’s in the end. The man is letting the child go despite the grief Luke can so clearly sense from him.

Grogu motions to Luke, and he bends down to retrieve him. He’s light in his arms, and the Force swirls around them both. Luke says the only thing he can to the man, “May the Force be with you.”

And the grief radiates from both Grogu and the Mandalorian as Luke turns away. The child is still willing to leave, though, so he continues, and as they enter the lift, he turns the child in his arms, making sure the young one can keep his father in his sight.

The doors close, and Luke feels the sadness that had been building within him finally break. The tears are silent, but they are there. Grogu squeezes his prosthetic hand through the black glove in reassurance. Luke smiles down at him, sending warmth to the child, “It will all be alright, little one.” And it will. 

As Luke wipes the tears from his cheeks, he promises he will not be the one to steal that precious gift of time and knowing each other from this father and son. Not as it had been stolen from him and his own father. He will train the child, but Grogu will see his father again. Soon.

**Author's Note:**

> this is probably au but this is how i choose to believe it went down
> 
> If you guys liked it leave a comment. They make my day! Seriously I love reading them so please leave me one cause they motivate me to write more! if you guys have ideas for other stories send me an ask on tumblr [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/imadetheline) or just yell about stuff with me. Info about me and all my other tumblrs are [here](https://infoabtmaddie.carrd.co/#)


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